Poll

Opinion

Ploy. Ruse. Each, particularly when advanced by a public servant, indicates conniving underhandedness unworthy of serious consideration and provides the observer insight into the true character of the individual.

Describe it as one will, the latest proposal put forth by Senate candidate Cory Gardner to allow over-the-counter birth-control pills is hardly an expression of genuine concern for women’s health and for protection of their right to privacy by controlling their reproductive systems.

In last week’s column, I wrote about the need for parents to embrace their role as their child’s primary teacher. An essential truth is that for a child to live up to and meet his/her academic potential, education must be valued in the home by parents and reinforced each day through modeling — reading, reviewing their child’s homework, doing their own homework — for in the end, teachers are not miracle workers.

In my book, Neil Zeron was one of the greats. As a rookie teacher struggling to hold my head above water in a sea of 13-year-olds whose last desire was to sit in an eighth-grade American history class, Neil was a font of wisdom. He became my mentor, a trusted guide into and through the byzantine labyrinth of teaching.
During one conversation at happy hour, which became our debriefing sessions, I reflectively mused what it would be like to see how “my kids” turned out later in their lives.

Behind every personal and/or group interaction, what Herman Melville calls the “living act, the undoubted deed,” is a message intended to communicate a psychological construct or emotion ranging from caring and compassion to contempt and anger.

A few recent news items, each powerfully pointing a finger at us and to our system, disconcertingly indicate why things are askew.

The first deals with the wealth gap. According to an Associated Press story, a University of Michigan study shows the Great Recession and consequential slow recovery have widened the chasm between the über-wealthy and the rest of Americans.

In 2007, the top 5 percent boasted 16.5 times the wealth as the bottom 95 percent collectively, but by 2013 it soared by nearly 50 percent, to 24 times.

A few recent news items, each powerfully pointing a finger at us and to our system, disconcertingly indicate why things are askew.

The first deals with the wealth gap. According to an Associated Press story, a University of Michigan study shows the Great Recession and consequential slow recovery have widened the chasm between the über-wealthy and the rest of Americans.

In 2007, the top 5 percent boasted 16.5 times the wealth as the bottom 95 percent collectively, but by 2013 it soared by nearly 50 percent, to 24 times.

Let’s pick up where I left off last week: with the untimely decapitation of Todd Lancaster, our erstwhile superintendent.
I e-mailed Peter Monson, an old friend, colleague and longtime member of the Board of Education, inviting the board and “interim” superintendent Roslin Marshall to my KYGT-FM show to give them the opportunity “to clear the air regarding ‘Toddgate.’ ”

The other day, a friend asked me how I come up with ideas about what to write, and I told her the problem isn’t coming up with them as much as deciding upon one. That’s my pleasant problem this week, so to wit:

Three rulings made last week a good one for civil liberties and, therefore, for civil libertarians, despite one ruling causing consternation for some women and their health providers. There is a reason the First Amendment is the first in the hierarchy: Without it, all the rest crumble.

I suspect that most Clear Creek County residents saw the article in the June 13 Denver Post business section about Mary Jane and Annelise Loevlie both receiving the presidential “E” Award for managing nation-leading exporters. Mary Jane created and manages Shotcrete Technologies; Annelise is CEO and a founder of Icelantic Skis.

It’s called the Slacker given it’s primarily a downhill course, but running 13.1 miles beginning near 11,000 feet is still taxing. Runners from Europe, Australia and across America know if they want their lungs screaming, America’s highest-in-elevation half-marathon will make that happen.

The 13th annual Slacker Half Marathon and Four-Mile Run is the brainchild of local everything Beth Luther. Keeping up with Beth is like running a full marathon. A slacker she’s not.

Powerful is how I describe the Xcel Energy Foundation’s recent $10,000 contribution to the Georgetown Energy Museum. This generous gift will allow us to open the museum’s doors to additional visitors, enhance our displays and continue offering the public unique opportunities to interact with Colorado history.

It was great to read Dave Stahl’s letter to the editor last week about Sen. Mark Udall being a senator who listens. Way too often we read letters and columns criticizing officeholders. I’m as guilty as anyone, so I’m happy Dave took time to relay his positive experience.

Stunned, like so many in Clear Creek. Todd Lancaster, home-grown superintendent, unceremoniously axed in a chaotic forum that, according to several accounts, resembled more of Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s on first” routine than a dignified deliberative body. We, the public, having had little or no inkling of irresolvable division within the leadership and ranks of our schools, were blindsided.